1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for heating and applying meltable products to a surface, and more particularly pertains to a handheld applicator for heating and applying a depilatory wax.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of an applicator to heat and apply a depilatory wax is known in the prior art. More specifically, depilatory wax applicators heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of storing, heating and applying depilatory body wax are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,536 to Jamali discloses a wax container and application kit; U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,326 to Legrain et al. provides an applicator for meltable products such as a depilatory wax that includes a hand held applicator and a docking base for the applicator unit; U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,468 also to Legrain et al. provides a similar apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,666 to Bourke et al. provides a wax applicator that also utilizes a hand held unit in conjunction with a docking base unit; U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,784 to Mann for a hot wax hair remover apparatus which includes a heating station and hand held dispensing units; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,985 to Fiveash for a hair removing applicator and process which discloses a hand held applicator with a heating circuit that requires a trailing electrical wire for the heating circuit.
In this respect, the depilatory wax applicator of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing an applicator for maintaining meltable products such as a depilatory wax without having recourse to electrical heating elements either in a base unit or in the applicator unit itself.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved depilatory wax applicator which can be used for providing a single unit hand held applicator for maintaining meltable products such as a depilatory wax that does not require a docking base unit or trailing electrical connection for a user to handle and that overcomes the limitations of the prior art as to these and other aspects of the prior art as is better described below.
Likewise, there is a continuing need for a new and improved depilatory wax applicator in a hand-holdable unit that can be self-retained without having electrical connections that could pose a safety threat to users who may wish to use the unit in an environment where water and other conductive materials abound.
In this regard, at least, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.